Hi!! I know that I said I'd upload next week, but hey! It came a week early :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: It belongs to the amazing Richelle Mead :)

Chapter 2

I have my own car. For my own use... It's a mustang.

I guess it was their way of bribing me into cooperating. By giving my a kick ass car. Oh and did I mention that it's red? Like a shiny, cherry red? And Eddie got one too! Except that his is black and an original. If anything, his is even more kick ass then mine! My Mom got a hardcore jeep. It's that green they wear in the army, it was probably also our runaway car if we were ever attacked or if there was an emergency.

The rest of the house was pretty nice too. Nothing like what I had expected. We lived on a huge lot that was surrounded by trees, and wards. Yup, we were totally strigoi safe, unless a human broke the wards. Which would most likely happen if we were ever discovered. The house itself was almost like a farmhouse. A really big, expensive creamy coloured farmhouse. it had a deck that went all the way around the house and there were lots of windows to give it a very open, inviting feeling.

When we entered the house it was exactly the same on the inside. Open and friendly, it almost made me wanna puke. I climbed the stairs to a hallway where the rooms were. I looked at the doors in shock for a second. Were we in someone else's house? One of the doors had a "caution" and "do not enter" sign on it. The second caught me by surprise, it had my name in girly letters on it. The third was plain. It took me a few more seconds to understand this. Then it hit me, of course they were going to make the house looked lived in! Duh!

I slowly entered my room. It looked like it was pulled straight out of Ikea! There were also clothes thrown across the room and make-up scattered on the dresser. The bed was unmade and there was homework stacked messily on the desk. It was lived-in... not.

At first glance it was a regular room. But after closer inspection you would notice that the clothes were brand new, the bed sheets were ironed, and the make-up had never been used. It was mostly Mac too.

I looked around my new room for a few minutes and decided that even if I was there against my free will, I would bask in this luxury... like a spoiled brat. This was going to be so much fun... (evil laugh!)

I exited my room to explore the rest of the house. I noticed Eddie standing standing in the doorway of the room with the "caution" sign on it. It was your average guy room, but like mine, it only appeared lived in.

"They went all the way, didn't they?" Eddie stated, making it a comment instead of a question.

"Yup."

I kept walking and climbed the second set of stairs to find a tiny attic that had a beautiful view of the garden. Maybe we could use this room to hide all the strigoi bodies we'd be killing in the near future. I smirked at the thought.

I went back downstairs and found stairs to the basement. It was definitely going to be my favourite room. It was one big room that was split into two. One half was the gym. It had everything! The second half was a pool to swim laps. It was a good thing I brought my bathing suit.

Before I went back upstairs I noticed two doors on the other side of the room that were side by side. I went over and opened the first door and saw that it was the size of a closet. I quickly flicked on the light and walked in. I was in heaven. Every weapon and gadget imaginable was there. From big guns to small guns, headsets, swords... everything. I closed that door and opened the next one. It was the same size and it was filled with stakes. They were lined side by side along the wall. I don't think I've ever seen so many stakes in one place.

After doing a little victory dance at my incredible find, I went back up and found my Mom and Eddie talking in the kitchen.

"So what do you think Rose?"

"I guess it's alright." I wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that I actually liked the house.

"Just alright? I'd say that it's a pretty awesome first house, don't you think?" Eddie smiled, he was always in a good mood. Well, he was before Mason... ya, that.

Eddie did have a point though. This was the first time I'd be living in a house instead of a dorm. Which was kind of depressing if you thought about it.

"Okay you two," my Mom interrupted "You should go to bed early tonight because you have school tomorrow."

I was going to comment on how she had finally taken the role of my mother, and not because she wanted to, I might add. When a word caught my attention.

School. Great.

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After much thought we decided it would be best to take Eddie's car. Both of us taking our separate mustangs doesn't exactly scream "pay us no attention". We found the school, Charter High School, easy enough and went straight to the office. When we entered the secretary looked up and her eyes widened considerably.

I smirked and looked at Eddie, he smiled and looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. Even though we fit in better with humans than moroi did, we were still different. I learned in the two years when me and Liss had run away that humans could sense... something. Somewhere in their subconscious, they knew. Fortunately, humans weren't smart enough to know what that something was.

"Hi, my name is Eddie Hathaway and this is my little sister Rose Hathaway. We're new here." Eddie said in a polite voice.

Haha, I never thought I'd see the day where a man would take a women's last name.

"Oh! Yes... of course dear... um... one moment please." The lady ran to the back of the office to look for our files.

She soon came back she handed us our files.

"Eddie, you are in the senior classes and you, dear, are in the junior classes."

Duh.

"You also have your lunch break and P.E. class together." She looked at me as if she was waiting for me to say something. I was going to give her some sarcastic remark about how I was forever in her debt, when Dimitri's voice came into my head. Calm Rose, be nice.

"Cool... Thank you." I mumbled.

As we were walking out I saw something, or someone, I knew I was going to see sooner or later. When Eddie asked me what was wrong, I couldn't answer him. How was I supposed to tell him that his dead best friend was standing right in front of him?

"Um... I think I forgot my... pencil. In your car! Ya, that's what I forgot! Can you give me your keys so that I can go get it?" I gave him my puppy dog eyes that no one could resist.

He seemed to be debating something, "Are you should you won't just drive off and ditch school?" Ouch, he had so little faith in me.

"I'm serious!" About the ditching, not about the pencil.

"Alright. Just give them back at lunch, got it?" And with that he threw me his keys and walked toward his homeroom.

I walked to the car and pretended to look for my pencil under the seat.

"Mason! What are you doing here? You can't just go popping up wherever you want anymore. I'm living in the human world with Eddie for a month, and I do not want any surprise visits!"

Mason looked at me sadly and I instantly felt bad. I couldn't imagine what he was going through right now. He must be so lonely!

"I'm sorry Mase. I just don't want to be caught off guard around humans."

When I looked back up at him, he had disappeared already.

_________________________

"Rose Hathaway?"

"Yes, that's me."

I entered the classroom and handed the teacher - Mr. Hoskyn, the board said - my papers. I felt around twenty pairs of eyes bore into the back of my head. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Mostly because I was trained to sense someone looking at me, and not because I was nervous.

"Have a seat in the back, there."

I turned around to face the class. I knew what they saw. I looked good, and no I'm not bragging. My hair was this awesome, dark brown colour that you couldn't find in a bottle. It curled to just below my shoulder blades. I had sharp, focused eyes and a straight nose. I was also extremely fit from all the hardcore workouts Dimitri put me through.

As I walked to my seat, I took in my new classmates expressions. Some looked excited, nervous, and some smiled at me. I could hear whispering all around me, no doubt talking about the new girl. Some guys were brave enough to look me in the eye and wink, while others stared at my forehead.

Once I sat down Mr. Hoskyn started rambling on. I didn't really care how I did in my classes since I was only here for a month, so I decided to look around the room some more.

"Hey there! My name's Brianne Henshaw. How do you like it here so far?" The girl who had spoken sat in front of me. She wore expensive clothes and too much make-up for my taste. I instantly put her in the category of: Bitch. She was like the human version of the old Mia.

She batted her eyelashes some more, waiting for my answer. I decided that this girl wanted something from me, and I knew what it was. Either:

A) To make me a part of her little clique so I won't be in her way.

or

B) To destroy me if I didn't do things her way.

Either way she considered me competition. I almost thought it was funny!

"I don't know. I just got here." I said in a cool voice.

That shut her up for the rest of class.

After class I was walking out, when this guy came up beside me.

"Hey, name's Carson? Wassup?" He had a goofy grin on his face and seemed laid back.

I liked him instantly. He almost reminded me of...Mason.

"Not much. I'm Rose." I smiled back.

"Hey, do you wanna sit with me and my friends for lunch? I know it must suck to start a new school in the middle of the semester."

"Well, um, I was going to meet my brother for lunch. But if he found some else to sit with, I'd love too." It actually wasn't that hard to call Eddie my brother. Ever since Spokane, Eddie was always looking out for me. He already was my big brother.

"That's cool. Well, welcome to Charter High School! See ya!" With that he ran off.

I smiled at his retreating back and realized that I did feel welcome. Weird.

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Jessica :)